A statistically improbable polymath's views on politics and culture.

 
Chris Lawrence has seen his first Very Big Cross, and is dumbfounded, concluding "Say what you will about Southern Baptists, but at least they have the good taste not to inflict something so immensely gaudy on the motoring public." Umm, I think there's a Very Big Cross on I-75 heading south near the Loudon, TN area. I'm not sure which denomination paid for the cross, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out it was paid by Southern Baptists. I'm just wondering how much the cross cost.

Churches are very good at spending money on real estate, yet they keep calling out for more and more donations. Just this Easter, at the end of the Vigil service I was attending, the priest announced that the parish would be able to start construction on their new church. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the church we were currently sitting in--I'm not a big fan of mid-seventies eccesiastical architecture, but it was in great shape. Moreover, my grandmother tells me that it's hardly overcrowded. So why this call for money to build a new church when there's so much suffering in the world? Why not give the money to the parish school, for a scholarship program?

And speaking of scholarship programs... why do the fundamentalist megachurches spend so much money on audio-visual equipment and then start asking the federal government to fund voucher programs? Why can't, or won't, they fund them themselves? And don't give me that "new technology enhances the worship experience" crap. Try incense; I've always found that to enhance the worship experience. And if that's too Catholic for you, reread your Luther preaching the need for more money for crusades which never took place. Perhaps someone should nail the Ninety-Five Theses on a megachurch door--and highlight the parts about indulgences and donations to the poor--just as a reminder.
posted by Maureen at 10:37 PM